'West Wing' cast reunites to encourage voting on nonpartisan ballots

YouTube video stillFrom left, Martin Sheen, Richard Schiff and Allison Janney reunite with other stars of "The West Wing" in a video to promote voting on nonpartisan ballots.

Syracuse University graduate Aaron Sorkin's Emmy-winning series "The West Wing" is back with a new episode -- sort of.

The cast of "The West Wing" reunited for a video promoting voting on the nonpartisan portion of the ballot. Actors appearing in the 4-minute short on YouTube include Martin Sheen (as President Josiah 'Jed' Bartlet), Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, Lily Tomlin, Bradley Whitford and Mary McCormack.

According to The Battle Creek Enquirer, McCormack, who played the president's national security adviser Kate Harper on the hit show, is the sister of Michigan Supreme Court candidate Bridget Mary McCormack, who is running on the -- wait for it -- non-partisan portion of the Michigan ballot.

The political candidate's campaign paid for the video, titled "Walk-and-Talk the Vote," which acts like a mini-episode of the NBC drama where the characters aim to fix the issue of voters leaving part of their ballot blank. And though Sorkin didn't write the public service announcement (the actress McCormack's husband did), the characters do have rapid-fire dialogue while walking just as they frequently did on the series.

The Atlantic reports McCormack actually convinced her former co-stars to do the ad for free, though some show regulars like Rob Lowe and Dulé Hill don't appear in the video. MLive.com adds that her sister's campaign spent less than $5,000 to produce it, including insurance, rental fees, food and props.

Candidate McCormack, a dean at the University of Michigan Law School and nominee of the Democratic Party, told the Battle Creek Enquirer that the primary purpose of the video is to promote the section of the ballot where the officially nonpartisan judicial races are listed. MLive.com reports Michigan voters leave that section blank anywhere from 25 to 39 percent less than the presidential portion of the ballot.

"It doesn't even matter what side of the issue you're on," she told MLive.com. "More of us should participate. That's really the only goal - it's a real public education goal."

Rumors of a "West Wing" reunion last month had many fans hoping a movie would happen. Actor Joshua Malina, who played Will Bailey on the show, posted several photos on Twitter of his co-stars together back in August. "I can't say what super-secret set I'm on, but it rhymes with Bwest Bwing Bmovie," Malina tweeted, teasing his followers.

"We had fun. It made us miss 'The West Wing,'" actress Mary McCormack told MLive.com of the video.